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It seems that president-elect Barack Obama seems to be interested in former members of the Clinton Administration rather than pick a team of his own. I don't find the idea of replacing Thomas Schieffer with Joseph Nye as appealing. Considering that Nye is being coined as "soft power", I am starting to find Bush's aides idea of continuing the North Korea pressure as unconvincing.. Looks like things will get tougher when it comes to getting back the abductees.

The abductee issue should be handled by Japan primarily. I don't think the US has much say in that particular matter.

Although the communists would like the relations between Japan and the United States to continue to deteriorate, but it's not like that everybody isn't realizing it. The abductee issue involves the US, because the US is an ally of Japan and is also responsible for the regional security of Japan due to the treaty signed after WWII.

Without military pressure, the North Koreans would not bother to re-investigate the case of Japanese civilians getting abducted by North Korean agents a few decades ago to teach them the Japanese language and to train spies. Japan without the help of the US would not be successful, since economic sanctions are not even affecting North Korea to the slightest when the other 5 of the 6 six-party talks nations are helping them with supplies and financial aid. Diplomatic pressure is also ineffective because without military flexibility, North Korea is totally ignoring it. If the US decides to build stronger relations with North Korea, Japan would lose the final leverage of utilizing the issues of denuclearization and the abductees and won't be able to do anything further with regards to the whereabouts of the abductees. The involvement of the United States in this case is vital.

Truth be told, Japan is potent enough to stand by itself as a power. The Pacific Fleet should be (and probably is) more wary of China. Too often, East Asian countries pull out the ghosts of WWII. Japan as it is today is a legitimate power and should be treated as such.

I still can't get over the fact that Al Franken is now a U.S Senator. On the other hand it must suck to be Roland Burris right now.

he is still going to be a us senator, even if just for 2 yrs. he will still get a lifetime pension and medical insurance.

however i wish the african-american community would show some more openese. first they defend jefferson and his 100k in the fridge. Now they are accusing everyone of racism if they are against burriss being seated a senator. Also some of the African-American leaders make me cringe when they keep repeating that Obama old senate seat needed to be seated by another african-american. Omitting the fact that Obama is half-white and was raise by his white grand parents in Hawaii.

Truth be told, Japan is potent enough to stand by itself as a power. The Pacific Fleet should be (and probably is) more wary of China. Too often, East Asian countries pull out the ghosts of WWII. Japan as it is today is a legitimate power and should be treated as such.

Japan should not be treated as a legitimate power if it does not have the right to exercise collective self-defense, though it possesses it. More over, without securing a seat in the United Nations security council as a permanent member, it would be odd to suddenly be able to obtain the right to exercize collective self-defense. Thus, it would not occur unless the first issue is resolved which also means that the six-party talks on the North Korea issue is still unresolved.

he is still going to be a us senator, even if just for 2 yrs. he will still get a lifetime pension and medical insurance.

however i wish the african-american community would show some more openese. first they defend jefferson and his 100k in the fridge. 2. now they are accusing everyone of racism if they are against burriss being seated a senator. Also some of the African-American leaders make me cringe when they keep repeating that Obama old senate seat needed to keep by seated by another african-american. Omitting the fact that Obama is half-white and was raise by his white grand parents in Hawaii.

do those guys release how racist they sound?

I can gleam your main point. BUT, you need to be careful using the words "african american community", this signifies the entire community holds theses sentiments which is just plain darn false.

I still can't get over the fact that Al Franken is now a U.S Senator. On the other hand it must suck to be Roland Burris right now.

Actually I don't think so. Roland Burris knows he's about to die and judging by the fact he already has his grave prepared (a real fancy one at that), he wants to put one last thing onto it before he can call it quits.

I seriously wish that this whole inauguration could be done with quickly... The beltway traffic is getting asinine. DC is clogged up like hell and you have to resort to rural routes to go anywhere... I mean 66, 95, 3 and 495 were bad enough but now? Forget about it.

The fruits of an illegal search are now admissible.... if the police officer made an 'honest mistake'.

The guy is detained, the computer shows an outdated warrant, they search him and find stuff, then they find out the warrant isn't valid. Whatever happened to fruit of the goddamned poisoned tree?

This almost feels like they're trying to validate stupidity and lapses in police procedures. Once they're allowed by any letter they can just be left alone to go out of control.

On a lighter note, my roommate insisted that yesterday (Sunday) was inauguration day and had the TV on. He called me later to admit he was wrong, but I'm not sure whether he realized by checking the date or waiting at the screen until way after 2pm.

Although I do understand Biden's feelings of not wanting to stay with his family, yet I found his decision to be somewhat foolish. Truly, the position as vice-president would display Biden as a partner of Barack Obama, but that position doesn't have much authority to it. Wouldn't it be a much better idea if Joe Biden had taken the stronghold position and work as true partners with Barack Obama rather than letting their former rival hold it? *facepalm*

It appears that president-elect Barack Obama is afraid that McCain supporters might cause trouble on inauguration day, so he had to praise McCain in advance and also shows that he is willing to team up with the Republicans on various policies and political issues, as long as the United States remain united for next 4 years. A clever decision!

No, he's not "afraid" of McCain supporters... he might be concerned about the extreme loony wingnut rightwingers (who hated McCain just a bit less than Obama), but that's what the Secret Service is for.

He's praising McCain because now that things are back to normal, McCain still stands as one of the more moderate members of his party and historically willing to work across party lines. The Republican Party is in total disarray between the thugs and weasels scampering, the social conservatives marginalized, and most of the intellectual remnants throwing their hands up in disgust. I think most of us prefer the moderate Republicans restore the party rather than the Palin&co. cryptofascist wingnuts.